(12 episodes)
What’s it about ?
Adaptation of a 4-panel gag manga about… well, you know how some recent anime series feel like they’re a collaboration with some town’s tourism board ? Well, it’s about this kind of thing.
Characters
Nanako, our protagonist, is an ordinary high school girl : she has a generic circle of friends, nags her mother for pocket money, and wonders whether she should join a club. Her gi character quirk is that she’s a bit of a perfectionist : once she commits to something, she wants to do it properly.
Her uncle is a civil servant in a town with no attractive feature whatsoever, and badly bleeding inhabitants to its neighbours. He tries his best to counter the tide, though ; his latest idea : “Locodol”, i.e. local idols. He ropes his niece into putting a show at the newly refurbished swimming-pool. Chaotic disaster ensues.
Fortunately, Yukari, the other girl he hired, has an actual clue on how to do this, and manages to salvage the situation. She and Nanako quickly become friends ; why not keep doing this ?
Production Values
Perfectly okay. Bright and shiny, as you’d expect this to be.
Overall Impression
There’s an interesting idea at the core of this : some towns are desperate to attract (or at least retain) young adults, and seizing on any fad for this purpose. This bleak reality gives an edge to an otherwise very fluffy gag series. Actually, I was kinda surprised Uncle’s plan somehow worked out, as it feels slightly undeserved.
But hey, this is funny. That’s a decent start for a comedy. Can it keep up among the deluge of Thursday shows ? We’ll see. I’m willing to give it a bit of rope.
